The US State Department held Hezbollah responsible for the continued Israeli presence on Lebanese territory, considering that it also constitutes “the main obstacle to economic recovery in Lebanon.”
A US State Department spokesman said, in a statement to Al Jazeera, that “the experimental areas are the only viable path to achieving peace,” stressing that Washington looks forward to the Lebanese army completing its cleansing operations in these areas.
The spokesman stressed that the United States will continue to support the “tripartite framework,” which aims, according to the American position, to achieve regional stability and restore the Lebanese state’s authority over its entire territory.
These statements come in light of the continued implementation of the “tripartite framework,” which was announced under American sponsorship on June 26, 2026, and stipulates the establishment of “experimental areas” in the south, from which the Israeli army will withdraw and the Lebanese military establishment will assume control, in parallel with disarming Hezbollah and dismantling its military structure there, in preparation for launching the reconstruction process and the return of the population.
The recent negotiating rounds dealt with expanding these areas and mechanisms for verifying that they are free of weapons, amid Hezbollah’s rejection of the agreement and its insistence on not searching for its weapons before Israel withdraws, while Tel Aviv links the completion of its withdrawal to the implementation of field measures that guarantee the party’s military structure will not return.
